The filtration of fuels, and the like, to remove water and other impurities is an ongoing concern. The -consumption of fuels which contain water and other impurities result in numerous problems including inefficient fuel consumption such as increased or accelerated consumption, impeded engine performance and even total engine failure. The consumption of hydrated and contaminated fuels is costly in terms of the associated engine repair and decrease in engine performance, the loss of productivity while the engine is being repaired and the backlog of work created while the vehicle is out of service.
The particular industries and activities which are directly affected by fuel consumption in internal combustion engines include trucking companies, bus companies, cab companies, delivery and courier companies, government emergency services and vehicle commuters. These industries and activities are particularly vulnerable to the maladies caused by consumption of hydrated and otherwise contaminated fuels. At this time, no environmentally safe device exists which separates impurities from fuels while also dehydrating the fuel and automatically disposing of the removed water from the filter apparatus.
Of primary concern in the present invention is to harmonize an efficient fuel filtration and dehydration apparatus having a filter element composed of environmentally safe, non-metallic materials and a water sensing means which generates a signal to activate a pump to automatically dispose of the removed water. The inclusion of a filter element made of disposable and environmentally safe materials eliminates the added expense of separating out the non-environmentally safe materials, permitting the expended filter elements to be used for plastics and cogeneration fuel applications. Additionally, the inclusion of a pump to remove the separated water from the filter and dehydrator apparatus generally provides that the water removed from the apparatus is replaced by fuel drawn from the fuel tank, thus generally preventing the entry of air into the apparatus.
It is, therefore, a feature of the present invention to provide a filter and dehydrator apparatus which in normal use dehydrates and separates impurities from fuels, using an environmentally safe filter element, while automatically removing and disposing of the separated water in the absence of allowing air to enter the apparatus.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent from the description or maybe learned by practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention maybe realized by means of the combinations and steps particularly pointed out in the appended claim.